


Dream of a Waking Man

by hardboiledbaby



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: 221B Ficlet, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-19
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-09 08:04:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1143547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardboiledbaby/pseuds/hardboiledbaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Hope is the dream of a waking man.</i> —Aristotle</p><p>Hiatus fic, no S3 spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dream of a Waking Man

**Author's Note:**

> For the LJ 221b_saturday prompt: "Sleep." 
> 
> Written on the corner of Angst and Pine, because that's where the muse hangs out.

Sherlock has always maintained that sleep is a waste of time, sleep is for the weak, sleep is boring. But now it is something more. Now, it is so much worse.

Sleep has become the enemy: as much an adversary as Moriarty was, and as his network continues to be. In his mission to destroy the criminal web, sleep is a dangerous concession to the frailties of transport that Sherlock can ill afford and rarely allows.

But he isn't a machine, is he? He's only human, after all. And when the days bleed into the nights bleed into the days, it is no longer a matter of _allowing_ , no longer a luxury but a necessity. Because eventually, inevitably, the flesh will demand its due.

And so he sleeps.

To sleep, perchance to dream....

He dreams of London, of Baker Street, of John.

Home.

Oh, so very weak. So very human.

But in his slumber, he cannot bring himself to regret the lapse. There comes a point at which even logic must yield.

 _I'll be back,_ his dream self promises. _I don't know when, but soon, as soon as I can. Wait for me._

He awakens then, and the words never reach his lips. But they remain in his head, and in his heart. 

_Wait for me, John. I will be back._

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Sherlock - Drabble I](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1323838) by [thayln](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thayln/pseuds/thayln)




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